Plant aqueous extracts: antioxidant capacity via haemolysis and bacteriophage P22 protection

The bacteriophage P22/Salmonella Typhimurium system, as well as human erythrocytes have been used to assay for protection, against forced oxidation caused by hydrogen peroxide, brought about by several aqueous extracts of selected adventitious plants grown in Portugal. This study proved, for the first time, that the aforementioned bacteriophage-based system is a suitable method to assess the antioxidant activity of plant extracts; among the 12 plants tested, raspberry (Rubus idaeus), sage (Salvia sp.), savory (Satureja montana) and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) were found to effectively protect against oxidative damage caused by H2O2. Haemolysis was inhibited via pre-treatment with every plant extract tested, except heath at 0.1% (w/v). The two analytical methods produced different results – and for some plants, there was a dependence (either direct or inverse) of the quantitative protection effect on extract concentration, whereas for others no significant dependence was found at all. Savory yielded the most promising results, using either method. Therefore, the P22/Salmonella system can be used as a suitable in vivo assay, and human erythrocytes as a suitable in vitro assay to confirm (or not) the antioxidant capacity of plant extracts in biological matrices.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Composição centesimal da inflorescência do cacho da banana

The inflorescence of the banana bunch is a by-product of the banana tree that can be called mangara, flower, heart, eye, banana tip, depending on the culture, historical and social factors of the region. It can be used as a nutritional supplement in food products, as a food additive, in cooking, in medicine, and in pharmacology. The study aims to analyze the centesimal composition of the inflorescence of the banana bunch and compare the results with articles presented in the literature. The sample was collected, macerated and analyzed according to Adolf Lutz Institute (2005) for moisture, ash and lipids and according to AOAC (1997) for proteins, while carbohydrates were quantified by difference. The inflorescence of the banana bunch showed 90.03% ± 0.18 of moisture, 1.53% ± 0.03 of ash, 1.40% ± 0.04 of protein, 0.52% ± 0.03 of lipid, 6.52% of carbohydrate and 36.36 Kcal of energy value. Thus, this is a food that has potential for new ways of use for its nutritional conformation, and easy access to this food, since Brazil has a high production of bananas in the world.A inflorescência do cacho da banana é um subproduto da bananeira que pode ser chamado de mangará, flor, coração, olho ou ponta da banana, dependendo da cultura, fatores históricos e sociais da região. Pode ser usado como suplemento nutritivo em produtos alimentícios, como aditivo alimentar, na culinária, na medicina e na farmacologia. O estudo tem como objetivo analisar a composição centesimal da inflorescência do cacho da banana e comparar os resultados com artigos apresentados na literatura. A amostra foi coletada, macerada e analisada, de acordo com o Instituto Adolf Lutz (2005) para umidade, cinzas e lipídios e de acordo com AOAC (1997) para proteínas, já os carboidratos foram quantificados por diferença. A inflorescência do cacho da banana apresentou 90,03% ± 0,18 de umidade, 1,53% ± 0,03 de cinzas, 1,40% ± 0,04 de proteína, 0,52% ± 0,03 de lipídio, 6,52% de carboidrato e 36,36 Kcal de valor energético. Sendo assim, esse é um alimento que possui potencial para novas maneiras de utilização por sua conformação nutricional, e pelo fácil acesso a este alimento, já que o Brasil possui uma elevada produção de bananas.

Population medical genetics : translating science to the community

Rare genetic disorders are currently in the spotlight due to the elevated number of different conditions and significant total number of affected patients. The study of these disorders is extremely helpful for the elucidation of physiological processes related with complex disorders. Isolated populations are instrumental for the study of genetic disorders, considering their homogeneity and high proportion of affected patients in a small geographic area. These favorable conditions lead to the creation of a new discipline, known as "population medical genetics", which integrates medical genetics, population genetics, epidemiological genetics and community genetics. In order to develop practical activities in this new discipline, the National Institute of Population Medical Genetics (INaGeMP) was created in 2008 in Brazil. INaGeMP has developed several tools and funded numerous research activities. In this review, we highlight three successful projects developed in the first 10 years of INaGeMP activities (2008-2018): a newborn screening pilot study for MPS VI in Northeast Brazil, the study of Machado-Joseph disease in Brazilian families with Azorian ancestry, and the high twinning rate in a small town in southern Brazil. The results of these projects in terms of scientific output and contributions to the affected communities highlight the success and importance of INaGeMP

Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase in Heart Tissue and Nitric Oxide in Serum of Trypanosoma cruzi-Infected Rhesus Monkeys: Association with Heart Injury

Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, afflicts from 8 to 15 million people in the Latin America. Chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) is the most frequent manifestation of Chagas disease. Currently, patient management only mitigates CCC symptoms. The pathogenic factors leading to CCC remain unknown; therefore their comprehension may contribute to develop more efficient therapies. In patients, high nitric oxide (NO) levels have been associated with CCC severity. In T. cruzi-infected mice, NO, mainly produced via inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS/NOS2), is proposed to work in parasite control. However, the participation of iNOS/NOS2 and NO in T. cruzi control and heart injury has been questioned. Here, infected rhesus monkeys and iNOS/NOS2-deficient mice were used to explore the participation of iNOS/NOS2-derived NO in heart injury in T. cruzi infection. Chronically infected monkeys presented electrical abnormalities, myocarditis and fibrosis, resembling the spectrum of human CCC. Moreover, cardiomyocyte lesion correlated with iNOS/NOS2+ cells infiltrating the cardiac tissue. Our findings support that parasite-driven iNOS/NOS2+ cells accumulation in the cardiac tissue and NO overproduction contribute to cardiomyopathy severity, mainly disturbing the pathway involved in electrical synchrony in T. cruzi infection

Global, regional, and national burden of neurological disorders during 1990-2015 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background Comparable data on the global and country-specific burden of neurological disorders and their trends are crucial for health-care planning and resource allocation. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors (GBD) Study provides such information but does not routinely aggregate results that are of interest to clinicians specialising in neurological conditions. In this systematic analysis, we quantified the global disease burden due to neurological disorders in 2015 and its relationship with country development level. Methods We estimated global and country-specific prevalence, mortality, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), years of life lost (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs) for various neurological disorders that in the GBD classification have been previously spread across multiple disease groupings. The more inclusive grouping of neurological disorders included stroke, meningitis, encephalitis, tetanus, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, migraine, tension-type headache, medication overuse headache, brain and nervous system cancers, and a residual category of other neurological disorders. We also analysed results based on the Socio-demographic Index (SDI), a compound measure of income per capita, education, and fertility, to identify patterns associated with development and how countries fare against expected outcomes relative to their level of development. Findings Neurological disorders ranked as the leading cause group of DALYs in 2015 (250.7 [95% uncertainty interval (UI) 229.1 to 274.7] million, comprising 10.2% of global DALYs) and the second-leading cause group of deaths (9.4 [9.1 to 9.7] million], comprising 16.8% of global deaths). The most prevalent neurological disorders were tensiontype headache (1505 9 [UI 1337.3 to 1681.6 million cases]), migraine (958.8 [872.1 to 1055.6] million), medication overuse headache (58.5 [50.8 to 67.4 million]), and Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (46.0 [40.2 to 52.7 million]). Between 1990 and 2015, the number of deaths from neurological disorders increased by 36.7%, and the number of DALYs by 7.4%. These increases occurred despite decreases in age-standardised rates of death and DALYs of 26.1% and 29.7%, respectively; stroke and communicable neurological disorders were responsible for most of these decreases. Communicable neurological disorders were the largest cause of DALYs in countries with low SDI. Stroke rates were highest at middle levels of SDI and lowest at the highest SDI. Most of the changes in DALY rates of neurological disorders with development were driven by changes in YLLs. Interpretation Neurological disorders are an important cause of disability and death worldwide. Globally, the burden of neurological disorders has increased substantially over the past 25 years because of expanding population numbers and ageing, despite substantial decreases in mortality rates from stroke and communicable neurological disorders. The number of patients who will need care by clinicians with expertise in neurological conditions will continue to grow in coming decades. Policy makers and health-care providers should be aware of these trends to provide adequate services.Peer reviewe

Azimuthal anisotropy of charged jet production in root s(NN)=2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions

We present measurements of the azimuthal dependence of charged jet production in central and semi-central root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions with respect to the second harmonic event plane, quantified as nu(ch)(2) (jet). Jet finding is performed employing the anti-k(T) algorithm with a resolution parameter R = 0.2 using charged tracks from the ALICE tracking system. The contribution of the azimuthal anisotropy of the underlying event is taken into account event-by-event. The remaining (statistical) region-to-region fluctuations are removed on an ensemble basis by unfolding the jet spectra for different event plane orientations independently. Significant non-zero nu(ch)(2) (jet) is observed in semi-central collisions (30-50% centrality) for 20 <p(T)(ch) (jet) <90 GeV/c. The azimuthal dependence of the charged jet production is similar to the dependence observed for jets comprising both charged and neutral fragments, and compatible with measurements of the nu(2) of single charged particles at high p(T). Good agreement between the data and predictions from JEWEL, an event generator simulating parton shower evolution in the presence of a dense QCD medium, is found in semi-central collisions. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Forward-central two-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Two-particle angular correlations between trigger particles in the forward pseudorapidity range (2.5 2GeV/c. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B. V.Peer reviewe